Merimon family can rest at last as remains identified

Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell, left, and Lubbock County Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan address the media Wednesday to confirm remains found north of Lubbock on Saturday are those of Peggy Merimon.

A nearly four-year search for Peggy Merimon, the missing mother of seven, concluded Wednesday afternoon with the announcement that her skeletal remains were found in a Northwest Lubbock County field over the weekend.

Lubbock County Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan confirmed that dental records positively identified 61-year-old Merimon, who was last seen alive leaving the Lubbock State School with a co-worker and a man at lunchtime on Aug. 9, 2006.

The community has watched and helped and grieved alongside the Merimon family as family members tirelessly searched for their mother and wife. They hired a private investigator and offered reward after reward - as much as $100,000 - for information.

And when the large volunteer search parties that went on just about every weekend for months dwindled, family members were still searching.

Up until Wednesday, the family continued on.

"There were places we were still searching," Bowles said. "We don't have to search anymore."

Even with the time lapse since the disappearance and the fact that Merimon's co-worker Kay Harrelson was found dead, they held out some hope their mother and wife was still alive.

"Subconsciously, everybody wanted to believe she was still alive," Bowles said.

He said the 1:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday with the medical examiner was very hard for Merimon's daughter and husband, both of whom the community has become familiar with over the past four years through countless news interviews as they pleaded for information.

It was the unknown that truly tormented them, they have previously told The Avalanche-Journal.

"It's constantly there. It's constant worry and constant sorrow," said Natosha Davis, Merimon's daughter, in a recent interview before the remains were identified. "We've been through years of heartache."

Even when Mickey Patterson was arrested in September for the murders of Merimon and Harrelson, the family said that was second to finding their Peggy.

But as the family's search for Peggy has concluded, and they can finally lay her to rest, the other unknowns remain - how and why?

Authorities said they couldn't reveal what evidence they might have in the case, what evidence was found with the remains or if they had determined a motive in the case.

But, they admit all the questions in Merimon's death have not been answered.

"We still have a long way from getting answers to all those questions," said Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell.

He said the most important thing on Wednesday was to give the family closure, allowing them to go to bed at night without being tormented by wondering where their loved one was.

"The most important thing is to get this chapter closed for the Merimon family," Powell said.

Medical examiners had yet to determine Merimon's cause and manner of death.

Natarajan said it's also premature for officials to determine when Merimon died, though other officials said it's believed to be nearly four years ago.

Harrelson's body was found in a ditch about 11/2 miles south of Shallowater less than two weeks after the two women disappeared. Her cause of death was never determined.

The two women left the school at lunchtime on Aug. 9, 2006, with a man believed by police to be Patterson, also a state school employee. They were seen getting into a car with the man.

They didn't return to work, and their cars were left in the school's parking lot.

Merimon's remains were found about 13 miles from where Harrelson's body was found in 2006.

A man found a skull at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday while riding an all-terrain vehicle on the vacant oil lease along County Road 5200.

Law enforcement officers went back out to the property on Wednesday morning to search for additional evidence in the case. They were possibly looking for more bones. Natarajan said some bones remained missing.

At least 50 law enforcement officers on foot and using all-terrain vehicles and horses searched for much of the day, though officials declined to release what evidence, if any, was found.

Lubbock police, including homicide detectives and code enforcement officers, assisted in the large-scale search, getting down on hands and knees to search every section near where the remains were found.

The discovery of the remains halted a pretrial hearing set for this morning. While no motions had yet been received to postpone Patterson's June 1 trial, Powell said it most definitely would be postponed.

"There's going to be new things coming out of this," he said.

He didn't know if the publicity that the discovery has caused will result in a venue change, but said he hoped to keep the trial in Lubbock County.

Following Wednesday's announcement, Merimon's family was planning to spend time together.

They hadn't yet started planning Merimon's funeral, saying that would wait for another day as the family took time to grieve and remember Merimon.